Capella Baltica Increasing Investment in Klaipeda FEZ

Capella Baltica, a Spanish cosmetics and food industry supplier, has increased the amount of its investment at Klaipeda Free Economic Zone from 10 to 13M EUR and plans to open its protein factory in late 2019.

Capella initially announced a 10M
EUR investment into a 2500 sq. m plant-based powder and oil extract production
plant, as well as a laboratory. However, the company decided to change its raw
materials and modify its manufacturing processes in the past year due to
changing circumstances in the market. For this reason, the launch of Capella’s
factory is now scheduled for late 2019, yet the amount of investment has been
increased by 3M EUR as new equipment will be needed for animal-based product
preparation and post-processing treatment.

Yevgeny Strazding, the CEO of
Capella, explained that it has been a productive year at Klaipeda FEZ, with all
the technical and design documentation for the factory being ready and the start
of the construction of the facility scheduled for March.

“Capella Baltica is very happy
with the investment environment. The delays in the construction of the plant
happened due to our changes in raw materials used, which also resulted in
changes in the production processes and technologies. With that said, once the
facility is operational, we are planning to conduct some additional R&D on
plant-based raw materials. We believe that there is significant interest in
products from plant-based raw materials and this is an area which we do not
want to neglect. Whether Capella Balitica will use Klaipeda facility to
manufacture plant-based products will depend on market conditions and results
of the R&D,” said Mr Strazding.

The company plans to hire around 40
engineers, biochemists and other specialists. It highly regards Klaipeda’s
academic community, as well as its blue economy strategy, crafted by the city
municipality last year. Capella already had a few initial interviews for some
technical roles but a broader talent hiring process will start in the next few
months.

The company has already placed
orders for some smaller auxiliary equipment that has long manufacturing periods
and will be selecting a construction company in February. Capella’s production process
will remain almost waste-free with animal-based protein being sold to food
processing companies and cosmetics companies. Capella’s secondary products —
animal-based oils and fats — will be sold to biofuel food manufacturers.

Capella’s manufacturing process
is a closed cycle process and is virtually waste-free. The only waste that will
be produced is water, which is removed from the raw materials. Due to the
process’ cyclical nature, all the foul smells will remain contained within the
process and particles responsible for the smell will be removed along with the
fat and stored in airtight vessels.

Capella is embracing the
extraction technologies based on DME (dimethyl ether) that have received
worldwide recognition. The extraction technology developed by Akzo Nobel N.V.
to obtain protein from animal skins was honoured with the 2012 Responsible Care
Award from the European Chemical Industry Council for Food Production.

EU economy’s future: slow but positive growthGrowth in all EU states will continue in 2019-20, though at a slower pace than before. The largest EU’s economies will grow at around 1,5-1,7%, mostly in Poland, Spain and Holland. The Baltic States’ growth will continue to be on the positive trend.